Editorial

Let Easter’s light of faith shine through us as Christ’s instruments on Earth

“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!”
—Pope St. John Paul II

That simple phrase spoken by then-Pope John Paul II during a Sunday Angelus address while in Australia in November of 1986—not during the Easter season—is worth repeating at any time during the liturgical year.

But Easter and the Easter season are especially appropriate times to remember that death has been defeated, hope has returned and light has overcome the darkness.

As the Lenten season recently progressed to Holy Week, we entered the Easter triduum. Darkness enveloped our world as we reached Good Friday, when Christ was crucified on the cross for our sake. No greater gift has been provided to humanity, but the finality of the Lord’s passion was the tragedy of all tragedies—an innocent man being put to a horrific death.

That darkness turned to light during the Easter Vigil, where Christ’s conquering sin and defeating death were marked by his resurrection. During Easter Vigil liturgies around the world, catechumens were baptized, confirmed, received their first Eucharist and entered into the full communion of the Church. Candidates who were baptized in other Christian traditions were also received into the full communion of the Church with a profession of faith, confirmation and first Eucharist during the liturgy.

But Easter weekend was also a time for all Catholics to renew their faith.

As the late Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein reminded us in a column in 2005, “On Easter Sunday, we Catholics renewed our profession of faith and recalled once more the decisive gift of our life—our baptism. At that decisive moment of baptism, we set out on the pathway which will lead us to the eventual passage to the kingdom and immortality.

“With baptism comes the responsibility to hand on the good news of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church that offer hope to our world,” Archbishop Buechlein wrote. “This is our Christian mission. This responsibility is shared according to our particular roles in life.”

That role, the late archbishop noted, goes beyond the clergy. “Not only are our priests responsible for carrying on the Church’s mission to our society, parents are also responsible for the Catholic upbringing of their children. Grandparents and godparents assist them,” Archbishop Buechlein wrote.

“Catechists and teachers also share the responsibility with parents who entrust their children to them for religious instruction and formation. Priests, with the help of pastoral leaders, share the responsibility for spiritual direction, especially making the sacraments of the Church available. The sacraments of the Church empower and strengthen us for our shared mission.”

As the late Pope Francis reminded us often during the 12 years of his pontificate—and as our faith teaches us—we are all disciples of Jesus and members of the body of Christ. Our call to missionary discipleship and shared mission includes evangelization—bearing witness to the message and work of Christ so that others may believe in him.

Our liturgical calendar reminds us that the Easter season lasts for 50 days.

“Alleluia! He is risen!” priests proclaimed on Easter Sunday.

At Easter, we celebrated the greatest victory in human history—the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His resurrection has defeated sin and death, and with his grace, we experience resurrected life.

As we continue celebrating this Easter season for the next several weeks, we are all challenged as an Easter people to demonstrate the risen Christ to everyone we meet.

Let Christ’s Easter light of faith shine through you. Build on the Easter message that we are stewards of the living God who can be his instruments on Earth.

Help build up Christ’s Church in your parish and in our world.

As St. John Paul II shared years ago, “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!”

May those words guide us during the Easter season and beyond.

—Mike Krokos